Showing posts with label mexican. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mexican. Show all posts
Let's do the LOCO-motion - Mexican food trail with the Loco Group
The Loco Group brought us on a mini food trail to all three of their outlets, Super loco Robertson Quay, Super Loco Customs house and last but not least Lucha Loco.
We commenced the trail at Robertson Quay. Set just beside the Singapore river, Super Loco adopted a Mexican diner look and feel, with the strange use of vibrant colours, creative graphics, festival lighting, handwritten typography and street posters. It wasn't hard to fall in love with the venue. They even have a retail cabinet showcasing an array of quirky Mexican merchandise to be purchased!
Barrio by MexOut: Mexican in da' hood!
Labels:
comfortfoods,
mexican,
must go,
orchard 313,
pubfood,
quesadilla,
somerset,
tacos,
will return
·
If you frequent Somerset MRT as much I do, you would probably notice the newest fairy-light lit venture that has occupied quite a generous space on the ground floor of 313@Somerset. Yes, the space is quite a looker! Built with the theme of a Mexican beer garden in mind, it's thoroughly convincing complete with fresh fun colors splashed across the walls and neo-Aztec patterns subliminally infused into the menu. The idea is flawless and the cool unfettered spirit of the place beckons passer-bys to explore its contained yet airy space.
Compared to its predecessor outlet, Mexout, which oozes urban contemporary vibes with its black-washed interiors and quirky fast-food like operations (read my review here); Barrio by Mex Out boosts a more standard ordering process and therefore a more extensive menu with more snacks and its latest delve into Tortas, or otherwise known as, Mexican burgers.
[ANYMAP] Lepak @ The Holland Village
Labels:
cafe,
desserts,
holland village,
ice-cream,
mexican,
must go,
will return
·
Holland Village, named in 1907 after Hugh Holland, an architect and an amateur actor who was one of the early residents in the vicinity. Holland Road, also known as hue hng au in Hokkien, translates to "behind the flower garden". The "flower garden" referring to the Botanic Gardens, hence explaining the provenance of its name.
Whether you're looking for sweets filled pinatas, rare magazines or just a cool cafe to chill out with friends whilst simultaneously cooing over adorable latte art, you can be sure that Holland Village's amazing spread of local stores have got you covered.
Cafe Iguana: More than just Margaritas
Labels:
affordable,
alfresco,
beer,
big groups,
buffalo wings,
chickenwings,
churros,
clarke quay,
cocktails,
craft beers,
mexican,
nachos,
tacos
·
Cafe Iguana, like its big brother company, Brewerkz, just down the road; has always been an institution along these tourist busted lane ways of Clarke Quay. With mismatched walls in crazy block colors, hanging lamps and trailing fairy lights, the decor is as kooky Mexican as it can get.
Since, my covert love for a good Mexican meal has always been unrequited in Singapore, unlike in Sydney where I had my fair stash of regular haunts; I was very much open to the idea of a tasting session over at Cafe Iguana; which if my memory serves me well, saw me getting sloshed at a tender age of 18 on a flight of very potent margaritas. So, the reputation for dishing out some solid margaritas stuck. But, how does Cafe Iguana deal on the food foray? Let's suss it out!
Lucha Loco: Ready, Get Set, EAT!!!
Labels:
bar,
beer,
drinks,
duxton hill,
mexican,
quesadilla,
tacos,
tanjong pagar,
tequila
·
It's always a riot at Lucha Loco, groups congregating under colored flags and hanging bulbs in the garden patio chowing down on hearty Mexican fare. The atmosphere is laid-back, yet dripping with contemporary LA vibes all at once. With the kitchen headed by Executive Chef Mario Malvaez in collaboration with Chef Jason Jones, co-founder of Mamasita in Melbourne; food here is touted to be the real deal. Judging from the deliveries of wildly hued tacos careening past our noses, out of the kitchens and on to hungry diners; it didn't take much convincing to see that Lucha Loco must be doing something right.
This post maybe severely belated, reviewing my last visit on the 9th April in conjunction with a special "Taco Eating Challenge" that was held on the same day. With my partner competing in the 10 mins, 'stuff yourself silly with tacos challenge' in tow, I set out to explore the menu on my own.
Taco De Chorizo con Red ($10) was a chorizo and braised beef taco. The braised beef carrying a heady aroma of spice, it's melty mouth-feel mixing beautifully with the more robust flavored sausage for a devilish combination.
The Taco de Pescado ($11) starts off with a beautifully fried snapper, the red onion salsa and spicy orange chipotle mayonnaise building it up into a crescendo. Wonderfully balance in flavor, this attractive package works it magic amongst the rowdy diners.
My staple order of Chicken Quesadilla with Serrano Chili ($16) arrives at the table, a racy sight of feisty colors, the freshly made salsa on the side providing acidity that cuts through some of the heat derived from the inclusion of serrano chili in the mix. The chicken is cooked to perfection, still retaining that bit of moisture that ties the spicy, creamy concoction together under those pressed shells. All in all, one of the better quesadillas I've had in Singapore thus far.
The event was a smash, gregarious hosting from the MC and great energetic vibes from the contestants and their supporters. The winner might have consumed 18 tacos in 10mins (if my memory doesn't fail me), and still had a visible 6 pec after the whole affair. I assure you, life isn't fair.
That being said, Lucha Loco was definitely a great find, an unhurried space that is the perfect backdrop for creative Mexican dining and a very persuasive choice of libations to wash down the sublime food. Perfect for after work dinner and drinks with the colleagues. Just be mindful of the tequila if the boss is around.
Lucha Loco
15 Duxton Hill
Tanjong Pagar
P: 6226 3938
Website: http://www.luchaloco.com/
Chili's Central @ Clarke Quay:
Labels:
clarke quay,
comfortfoods,
food tasting,
foodpanda,
media event,
mexican,
restaurants,
the central
·
Food Panda and Singapore Dine have partnered up to provide Singapore with the largest delivery service on local shores. To mark this momentous announcement of the collaboration, a launch event was held at Chili's Central @ Clarke Quay and yours truly received an invite!
Frankly, mingling isn't my strong suit so I chose to settle down along the padded booth seats with a San Miguel in tow. Soon after, I was introduced to two other food bloggers from Piece of Cake and Dairy and Cream whom I got acquainted with swiftly. Thank goodness for that. Surrounded by a special blend of politisse with a soupcon of obsequous grovelling all around, I was grateful for the company of my new found friends who like me, zoomed in like eagles over the food.
We were treated to a starter dish of warm and crispy tostada chips with flavourful house-made salsa on the side. Perfect dish for the peckish. The freshly fried chips, light and extremely thin yet resilient enough to scoop up the tangy salsa. I appreciated that these chips did not reek of old re-used oil.
Then next up came Big Mouth Bites, mini renditions of beef burgers with ground steak beef patty, apple smoked bacon, cheese and ranch dressing. As much they looked good on the platter as the server made his rounds, ringing the crowds and prancing through the human obstacles like a ballerina; this dish was less than stellar. The patty was dry and clumsily seasoned, overworking the meat resulting in a texture similar to a Macdonald's sausage patty.
If there was one comment about the food that was clearly palpable throughout the line-up of dishes that night. They were all overzealously salted. Perfect if you're downing a couple of beers along with your meal.
The Boneless buffalo wings, essentially golden nuggets of chicken breast battered and deep fried and served with a cool blue cheese dip fell prey again to the spells of the salt over dosage. On a hindsight, these were exceptionally moist and succulent despite it's breast meat beginnings.
Moving on to the better dishes of the night, we were presented with the lovely Club Quesadillas, a melted orgy of chicken with applewood smoked bacon, fire-grilled corn guacamole, grilled onions and peppers. Eaten alone, this was a gorgeous exercise of purity in flavors. But eaten with a shy smothering of jack cheese and ancho-chile ranch dressing, this humble looking Mexican fiesta attained a whole new level of piggish indulgence. I wanted to hog this dish so badly.
Equally tantalizing, the Southwestern Eggrolls looked spectacular with its colourful medley of smoked chicken, black beans, corn, jalepeno jack cheese, red capsicum and spinach all within a crispy flour tortilla. Scoring in terms of presentation, I fell in love with the eggrolls, the little spoonful of avocado ranch sauce over the top resulting in a riotous mouthful of crispy, soft, crunchy and savoury goodness all at once.
Chili's Central @ Clarke Quay is a good place for hearty American food, some Tex Mex style and others of more traditional origins. A good place for a chill-out night with close friends over simple food and couple of margaritas to match.
Thank you once again to Antoniya and the team of Food Panda for the generous invite. (You can read about my experiences with Food Panda here)
(The Central)
#01-18, The Central,
6 Eu Tong Sen Street
Website: http://www.chilis.sg/
Cha Cha Cha: Chiquitita, tell me what's wrong?
Labels:
beer,
circle line,
holland village,
mexican,
restaurants
·
My recent endeavours into Mexican food have seen some major disappointments and some other temporarily high points in my otherwise mundane life. Today I introduce to you one of my regular haunts when the Mexican cravings hit home hard. Cha Cha Cha, located at Holland Village has the benefit of it's convenient location, hence drawing in the crowds of expatriates that tend to flood into the area almost every night; however faced with direct competition from El Patio just next door, I report with much conviction that the former does a much better job of highlighting the authenticity of Mexican cuisine and at cheaper prices too!
Service is fast and friendly at this no-frills joint so don't worry about having to expend unnecessary energy getting the attention of a waitstaff. And for the famished, food arrives with a sense of urgency and piping hot to the table as well. That's two ticks right there.
We ordered the Pitcher of Lime Margarita ($40), flavors of fresh lime and a generous dosage of tequila muddled into one slushie of a drink, perfect for the warm tropics. You're, almost always, guaranteed a fun night sharing (might I add) with friends.
My Chicken Burrito ($16), essentially a flour tortilla filled with rice, topped with melted cheese and chili con carne, served with refried beans, guacamole and sour cream comes to the table with the sense and sensibility of a sumo wrestler, chubby and mean. You'd certainly do well in ordering this signature dish, the mixture of textures, flavors and contrasting temperatures of it's condiments creating a sweet dance of sensations on the palate. All was good till the refried beans which I did not fancy. Random note, avoid eating too much beans should you be on a date. These tend to make you gassy.
My friend's Beef Fajita ($21) stole the limelight with its smoking hot entrance, served on a sizzling plate accompanied with warm tortillas with a garnishing plate of lettuce, salsa mexicana, sour cream and guacamole. Hearty in flavors, but a little bit of a scrooge when it came to tortillas.
Cha Cha Cha isn't the cheapest Mexican Joint around (it also isn't the most expensive). But I like its unpretentious ambience, faultless service, and overall dependent food.
32 Lorong Mambong, Holland Village,
Singapore 277690
Tel: 6462 1650
Operating Hours: 11 am to 11 pm Daily
{GIVEAWAY} Food Panda: The Mexican fiesta and a Giveaway
Here in Singapore, Food Panda has managed to rope in a staggering 129 food outlets to collaborate with, consisting of quite a few Indian restaurants, Mexican joints and some other more exciting establishments like Chilis, Outback Steak House and more. With this figure constantly on the rise, I was sure spoilt for choice when it came to deciding on a single establishment to satiate my hunger. Having secured an in-house dinner companion for the lovely Sunday evening, I proceeded to order for the both of us.
Honestly, navigating the system couldn't be any more foolproof. Steps are as documented on the site. Upon entry into the site, you are prompted to key in the postal address of your current locality so that the servers can rank and better isolate the food providers nearest to you (hence resulting in shorter delivery times). After that is done, go ahead and pick from the wide array of choices of restaurants and browse its menu even! Save for my whims for Mexican food that night, I surely would have been lost debating my choices that night. Fresh Baja it was.
Upon confirming and submitting my order (Hit the button 'ORDER NOW', and payment can be made via cash upon delivery or paypal!); I was hit by a barrage of messages (SMSes and emails, two pronged attacks), containing the legit details of my payment confirmation, order receipts and all. How assuring... despite it's excessive nature. I received a call shortly that really took the icing off the cake. From a Gavin from the Food Panda team, the call was a verbal confirmation of my order and a query regarding my queer message to be given notice should the order be delivered earlier to my doorstep instead of the stipulated 1.5hr as suggested on the site. He took to explaining that a window of 30mins should be allowed given that the pre-orders were taken before the kitchens open for dinner hence leaving them questionable to food delivery times should there be and influx of pre-orders coming in. The level of commitment to provide a smooth food delivery from Food Panda was sure looking very impressive at this point of time. All even before I took my first whiff of the food!
Sadly, the night's arrangement met with a slight hiccup when my dining companion called off the appointment, leaving me stranded with an enormous surplus of food on my hands. Imagine my
The wait for the food ensued, and sure enough, the food arrived in a little over an hour. Packed neatly into bags and containers of different sizes, unwrapping all these was similiar to a Christmas day. I ordered the Chicken Grande Quesadilla ($20) and Char Siu (pork) Baja Burrito ($20) for tasting. To my delight, both turned up spiffingly hot at my doorstep. the former with accompaniments of sour cream and homemade guacamole on the side.
The Char Siu Baja Burrito was more to my liking, the succulent braised pork amidst it's wrap with freshly sliced lettuce, pico de gallo (salsa fresca), a dallop of guacamole and all that melted Monterey jack cheese plastered warm flour tortilla. The orchestra of flavors creating a blanket of warmth, one that I familiarise myself with only on my single rest day in the week. The same can't be said about the Chicken Quesadilla, the char-grilled chicken hidden below the pressed tortilla in stingy portions and to make matters worse, parched dry. I was not a happy camper with this one. That aside, the dips that came with the tortilla chips were excellent. Though barely unrecognisable to me, I singled out some sort of olive tapenade, another red pepper type dip amongst the riot of flavors and colors.
In all honesty, this isn't probably the best representation of Mexican food you can get around here. To satisfy your Mexican cravings, turn to Piedra Negra at Haji Lane or head on down to MexOut for their fabulous cochinta pibil corn tacos.
Food Panda, as a food delivery service however has sure knocked my socks off. Offering a staggering selection of food establishments, one can be sure of finding something appropriate for that stay-in Sunday or that small office party. Takeaways have never been so convenient nor flavoursome.
Feeling like staying in tonight with some take-away Indian food? Take a break with me and enter this sweet Food Panda Giveaway for a chance to win a $30 voucher for online payment via PayPal. Note, I will only be giving away one voucher which can be used easily on your next intended Food Panda delivery! Omar Shariff's Indian food is calling my name. But maybe you'll be more enticed by the ribs from Outback Steakhouse? Either way, I'm glad I don't have to choose.
To enter, just leave a comment on this post with your name and email (button is right below the date of blog post on the top left corner) just above answering the following question.
- What's your favourite take-out cuisine? (Thai, western, Chinese, etc...)
- Which restaurant would you like to try at Food Panda Singapore?
Deadline to enter is
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The winner is #5. Congratulations to AnAn, you are getting that $30 cashback voucher courtesy of Food Panda! Will contact you soon regarding the details. Thank you all for participating!
Mexout: Tacos are IN!!!
Labels:
CBD,
chinatown singapore,
mexican,
tacos
·
Located within the reaches of the office crowds, I was surprised to find the place packed on a Thursday night. Perhaps it is the draw factor created by the urban contemporary feel of the space or maybe it's the fresh ingredients being used with pride that keeps the joint busy. Whatever it was, it worked, the quirky yet fast-food like operations sealing the deal for me.
Click here for a better enlarged view.
Approaching the board, one can't help but feel intimated by the looming of options ahead. Thank goodness for the gentle prodding and guidance of the staff. The multi-step ordering process first involves selecting the base – burrito ($9/8-inch, $13/12-inch), warmed tacos ($13/three), or rice ($13, with tangy Mexican-style red rice) or salad ($13) bowls. I went ahead with the corn tacos (which skips you right by step 2), filled them up with cochinta pibil (pork shoulder braised in orange jus, spices and banana leaf), added lettuce and sour cream, a hot concoction of salsa verde for that edge and finally a little over-the-top reward of guacamole (additional $2) to pull the hefty package together.
Paired with a Corona ($7 at happy hours), I was all settled. The braised pork shoulder was delicious, it's smoky undertones complimenting the creamy freshness of the guacamole (one of the better versions I've had in Singapore thus far); on the other hand, my friend's filling of char grilled chicken was slightly disappointing with a close resemblance to tandoori chicken. Next time, I would probably pay the $2 supplement for the beef barbacoa – a cumin-laced brisket dry roasted in chills and beer.
All in all, an appropriate meal to set the tone for a night of rowdy fun.
#01-01 Far East Square
39 Pekin St 048769
Guacamole 101 (as promised)
Well, it could be the grinch at the end of the movie or possibly the hulk for some. But for me, it would definitely have to be guacamole. (p.s. I promised it earlier in another post, so here goes!)
Here's my end of the year post for your guys as well so I'm praying this recipe cuts it. A big bang for the end of a rather strange year.
Dismantle the avocado, de-seed it and scoop out its tender flesh. Mash it with a fork. Work it.
Add in some chopped tomato, finely chopped onions and garlic.
For the heat-seekers, toss in some chopped jalapenos. Seeds intact for the daring only.
Squeeze a lemon. Lime works wonders as well.
Round up a bunch of fresh coriander and chop it up. Look, its a party in there.
Here's a secret, a good cupful of grated Parmesan cheese in the mixture does magic.
So there you go peeps. A quick fire way to avoid paying throngs of money at a mexican joint.
It's the new year in a bit. For me, it means new beginnings. Settling into a new home, a warm nestling of the heart, adventurous placings in foreign kitchens. All a little emotional to say the least.
That's enough naggy talk from me now.
Party hard and I'll catch you on the flip side.
Tonight, we are young.
So let's set the world on fire.
We can burn brighter
than the sun.
Let's do Mexican
Labels:
australia,
mexican,
restaurants,
sydney
·
The second place to hit my culinary radar is Baja Cantina. An established Mexican joint along Glebe Point Road. You know that this isn't your run off the mill restaurant when you get declined a seat 3 times walking in without a reservation on a weekend. Lesson learnt.
Multi-coloured table cloths and long glass windows greets the gazing eye. The seated diners, a mixture of eclectic artsy people that Glebe is well known for, a good bunch of hopefuls waiting for a Mexican culinary revolution, and a few of us, normal people, just craving for a good bowl of nachos.
I may be deemed as boring after this... but this are the usual suspects. A practice that we have developed after just a mere single visit to the place, hence, we order the same thing every time without even a glimpse of the menu. And trust me, once you've got a taste of these dishes, there's no turning back.
Pictured above, Baja's famous nachos. Fresh corn chips with black beans, melted jack cheese, salsa, guacamole, sour cream and jalapenos ($12). For something a little extra, you can top it up with shredded beef, chicken or carnitas. But I suggest that the original version would suffice, probably even satisfy the two hungriest cows. Thankfully, Baja Cantina chose some good representation with their nachos, like a painter palette, everything on the platter melded together into a dynamite packed bite.
The next must have is their Quesadilla with jack cheddar, jalepenoes and shredded carnita ($12). It's strange how something so seemingly simple can be so addictive. The slow braised pork packed with spices, cooked till a excruciatingly tender stage for our gratification.
It's simple. Have a craving for mexican? stir up some guacamole(I'll have to share the recipe sometime) at home or make a trip to Baja Cantina.
Baja Cantina Mexican Restaurant
43~45 Glebe Point Road
tel: 9571 1199
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